Mina Hoorfar

Associate Member

Mechanical, School of Engineering
Email: mina.hoorfar@ubc.ca


Research Summary

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells; Microfluidic fuel cells; Digital microfluidics

Biography

Dr. Mina Hoorfar’s work developing` thermos-fluidics solutions has enabled easier and faster detection of pathogens in water, and the optimization of medical diagnosis. Her research has also led to advancements in the areas of energy (fuel cells), health (rare-cell capture and biomarker detection in breath), and the environment (water quality and fugitive gas leak detection). Since its establishment, ATFL has been involved in the implementation of its vast expertise into different applications ranging from renewable energy to sensors and biosensors for human health and environmental monitoring. Dr. Hoorfar’s research in the renewable energy initiated from her expertise obtained during her PDF at CWRU. They have recently applied their expertise to the development of a novel microbial fuel cell for both treatment and energy production from wastewater in remote areas. After joining UBC, Dr. Hoorfar with collaboration with other faculty members established a microfluidics group with interests in the development of portable devices for biomedical applications ranging from DNA purification from saliva, acetone detection from the exhale breath of a diabetes patient, circulating tumor cells detection from the blood of a metastatic patient, and cell patterning on the digital microfluidic platforms for tissue engineering. Another aspect of Dr. Hoorfar’s research endeavors involves the design and fabrication of biosensors and nano-biosensors to achieve low detection limits required for environmental and agricultural applications. She has filed a patent in this area for the detection of pathogen in drinking water.

Degrees

PhD - Mechanical Engineering (University of Toronto)
MASc - Mechanical Engineering (University of Toronto)
BASc - Mechanical Engineering (University of Tehran)

Selected Publications & Presentations

Journal

[1]           S. M. Rezaei Niya, R. K. Phillips, M. Hoorfar, “Estimation of Leakage Current in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells”, ECS Transactions (Accepted August 2014).

[2]           S. Odaya, R. K. Phillips, Y. Sharma, J. Bellerive, A.B. Phillion, M. Hoorfar “X-ray tomographic analysis of porosity distributions in GDLs”, Electrochimica Acta, (Accepted August 2014).

[3]           H. Rezaei Nejad, M. Hoorfar, “Purification of a droplet using negative dielectrophoresis trap”, Microfluidics Nanofluidics, DOI: 10.1007/s10404-014-1446-3.

[4]           S. H. Tahseen, M. Hoorfar, “Effect of gas diffusion layer properties on breakthrough time and pressure”, Transport in Porous Media, DOI: 10.1007/s11242-014-0357-9.

[5]           S. M. Rezaei Niya, P. R, Barry, M. Hoorfar, “Study of crossover and depletion effects in laminar flow-based fuel cells”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 39,12112–12119, 2014.

[6]           M. Shahraeeni, M. Hoorfar, “Pore-network modeling of liquid water in gas diffusion layers”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 39, 10697– 10709, 2014.

[7]           S. M. Rezaei Niya, M. Hoorfar, “Sensitivity analysis of impedance characteristics of a laminar flow- based fuel cell”, ECS Transactions, 58, 49–58, 2014.

[8]           S. M. Rezaei Niya, M. Hoorfar, “ Process modeling of the ohmic loss in proton exchange membrane fuel cells”, Electrochimica Acta, 120, 193–203, 2014.

[9]           M. H. Banna, S. A. Imran, H. Najjaran, R. Sadiq, M. Hoorfar, “Miniaturized water quality monitoring pH and conductivity”, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 193, 434–441, 2014.

[10]       E. Aghaarabi, F. Aminravan, R. Sadiq, M. Hoorfar, and H. Najjaran. “Comparative study of fuzzy evidential reasoning and fuzzy rule-based approaches”, Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 28, 655-679, 2014.

[11]       M. S. Islam, R. Sadiq, H. Najjaran, M. Hoorfar, “Reliability assessment for water supply systems”, ASCE J. Water Resource, Planning and Management, 140, 468-479, 2014.

[12]       M. S. Islam, R. Sadiq, M. J. Rodriguez, H. Najjaran, A. Francisque, M. Hoorfar, “Water distribution system failure”, J. Environment, Systems and Decisions, 34, 168-179, 2014.

[13]       M. H. Banna, S. A. Imran, A. Francisque, H. Najjaran, R. Sadiq, M. Hoorfar, “Online drinking water quality monitoring”, Critical Reviews in Envir. Sci. & Tech., 44(12), 1370-1421.

[14]       H. Rezaei Nejad, O. Z. Chowdhury, M. D. Buat, M. Hoorfar, “Characterization of the geometry of nDEP traps for particle immobilization”, Lab Chip, 13, 1823-1830, 2013.

[15]       S. M. Rezaei Niya, M. Hoorfar, “Study of proton exchange membrane fuel cells using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) – A Review”, Journal of Power Sources, 240, 281-293, 2013.

Additional publications

Selected Grants & Awards

 

 

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